And on the Farm He Had Caviar (E-I-E-I-O)

By FLORENCE FABRICANT

Published: December 22, 2004

IT is time to add new players to the usual caviar vocabulary of beluga, osetra and sevruga: transmontanus and baerii.

Farm-raised caviar is becoming a better option than the shrinking and restricted wild harvest, and the sturgeons of choice are Acipenser transmontanus and Acipenser baerii. These terms are showing up on caviar tins.

The quality of farm-raised caviar has improved dramatically, and the amount that is available keeps increasing. It is being produced in California, France, Italy and Uruguay, and experiments are also under way in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Armenia.

Cultivated caviar is a response to decreasing supplies of Caspian Sea caviar. The quotas for the 2004 catch have been sharply reduced to protect the fish. That and the weak American dollar are driving the already exorbitant price of wild caviar even higher, starting at about $60 an ounce compared with $30 and up for farm-raised.

Armen Petrossian, the chairman of the caviar company that bears his name, said: ''Today about 25 tons of caviar are farm-raised, compared with about 180 tons of wild. In five years I would estimate we'll see 150 tons of farm-raised on the world market.''

Petrossian now sells transmontanus caviar, which is also called white sturgeon, from Stolt Sea Farm in California. It is $40 to $45 an ounce in two grades: royal, which I found to have an earthy, osetralike flavor, and imperial, which has a delicacy like beluga. Stolt Sea Farm's caviar is also marketed under the brand name Sterling and is available at Zabar's for $65 for two ounces.

Browne Trading in Portland, Me., is selling transmontanus from Italy at about $50 an ounce. The texture of the dark grains is impeccable, with a flavor that has sweetness and hints of black truffle. This caviar is also available at Balducci's stores.

(Exact price comparisons are difficult to make because some places sell caviar by the gram and others sell it by the ounce. The price usually drops for larger amounts.)

Tsar Nicoulai, another California company, is producing good, buttery transmontanus, which it sells for $53 to $63 an ounce, depending on the grade. Williams-Sonoma has it, too, for $65 an ounce (in two-ounce tins) for select, the higher grade.

A type of Siberian sturgeon, Acipenser baerii, is being cultivated in Uruguay. At Eli's Manhattan, it is $37 an ounce. This baerii has a smallish, sevrugalike grain and darkness, but is exceptionally clean tasting, with delightful nutty overtones. Paramount Caviar in Long Island City, Queens, also carries the Uruguayan caviar at $45 an ounce, but is now sold out and awaiting a shipment.

Acipenser baerii has been cultivated in the Bordeaux region of France for about five years. D'Artagnan's house brand is from Caviar d'Aquitaine, owned by Pierre Berg?a former partner in Yves Saint Laurent. It is just under $60 an ounce. This caviar is dark gray with a clean, fresh salinity. Petrossian sells French baerii from a different company for around $60 an ounce; it has a small grain and a softer texture than the company's cheaper transmontanus. The flavor is not quite as bright.

At prices like these for cultivated caviar, you might consider wild Caspian Sea caviar after all, unless political or environmental issues are factors. But it is best to buy only from Iran or Azerbaijan.

Earlier this year it seemed doubtful that any Caspian Sea caviar from the 2004 catch would be approved for sale. In October wild caviar was finally given the green light by the international organization that regulates the trade, and by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service.

Fine Azerbaijan osetra from the 2004 catch is around $60 an ounce. Delicious, classic Iranian osetra, which meets extremely high standards, starts at around $75 an ounce most places, more for caviar labeled golden or imperial.

As for beluga, which once dominated American caviar sales, little is available, because of restrictions placed on the catch. Also, no fresh caviar is coming in from Russia. This season the best beluga is from Romania, on the Black Sea, for at least $85 an ounce.

''Prices are now as high as I have ever seen them,'' Mr. Petrossian said. ''They may come down a bit after the holidays. But we are trying to get our customers to experiment with different caviars. You can't just sell beluga anymore.''

Whether caviar is purchased from shops, mail-order catalogs or online, the jar or tin should be labeled as to type of caviar and country of origin. Those that say only ''Caspian Sea'' are best avoided because they could be from an older harvest.

And if you want to indulge in caviar in a restaurant but shudder to think of the price, there is a bring-your-own policy until Jan. 1 at Le P?gord, 405 East 52nd Street. The accouterments are on the house. Georges Briguet, the owner, is also serving Iranian osetra at cost, $130 for two ounces, for what may be the only caviar bargain around.

Photo: CALIFORNIA BRED -- Transmontanus caviar comes from white sturgeon. (Photo by Michael Nagle for The New York Times)